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Originally Posted by PSUSkinsFan21
While I am not intimately familiar with the particulars of West Virginia law, I'm sorry but you, paulskinsfan, are actually the one that is wrong here. Ramseyfan is right. The main purpose of a grand jury is to act as an investigation for the prosecution. It becomes particularly useful when a police investigation is not sufficient to gather evidence, because the grand jury has a subpoena power that the police do not have. For this reason, the types of cases that hinge on documentary evidence (i.e. corruption, other white collar crimes) are typically best suited for grand jury testimony. To say that "every single felony charge, is decided upon by a grand jury" is just flat wrong in any jurisdiction I've seen. There is no constitutional right to a grand jury and I'm aware of no state that requires the prosecution to submit a case to the grand jury before filing charges and proceeding with prosecution.
I know it's not in our nature to admit when we are wrong, but I think everyone interested in this thread should know that Ramseyfan got it right.
ps. If you'd like my bar ID #, I too will be happy to provide it.
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Guys, I really don't want to waste everyone's time on this non-Redskin issue. After looking in the Criminal Procedure Manual, it states that slightly more than half the states use a Grand Jury System for all felonies. In fact, it is in West Virginia's freakin constitution which states:
"No person shall be held to answer for treason, felony or other crime, not cognizable by a justice, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury."
See Article 3, section 4 of the WVA Constitution.
Now I am originally from VA, and I believe that is the law there as well, although I haven't practiced criminal law there. Now, if its used in roughly half the states, then its not used in roughly half the states. Florida may very well not use the Grand Jury on all felonies, but WVA and many other states do. If you wanna debate criminal law, Im all over it. So now, you admit you were wrong PSU SkinsFan21. It may not be the law in FLA, but it is the law in half the country.